Pine Lakes Episode Four by Christopher Motz (Narrated by Joe Hempel)

Episode Four of Pines Lakes (Who’s Afraid Podcast)

5 out of 5 stars

If you’re unfamiliar with serialized fiction – it’s the idea that you take a story and separate it out into episodes – like a TV show. These are usually released on a website or as a podcast. I’ll be reviewing each episode separately as they come out to provide an episode by episode review of the story. Check out my review of Episode One and Episode Two, Episode Three.

Some of my reviews may contain spoilers to past episodes – I’ll try and keep that to a minimum but I can’t guarantee anything.

It’s only been a week but I had already forgotten what happened last week in Episode Three, but I was instantly reminded in the first moment of this episode.

Ted is gone and Susan is left, stuck in the car, and surrounded by these beings or things. She is fighting sleep and basically out of energy from screaming after Ted was dragged away. Once falling asleep we are treated to another flashback. This one is rough (especially since I’m a dog person).

Easily the best quote from the episode: “It wasn’t a bump in the road, it was a huge fucking chasm that had the potential to tear them apart.”

Randomly, Ted is back and we’re starting to see exactly what is wrong with the woods. Ted starts to tell us a story about what happened after he was dragged away – absolutely brutal. (And you can tell since Ted talks about how he’ll “never be okay”.

Episode Four takes one of the biggest things that happens in a horror film/book that I recognize. They are leaving the only safe place they know (the ‘Cuda) and are venturing out to find help/safety.

Overall, episode four will definitely be one of the ones that stays with me for a while. Lots of Blair Witch and similar vibes going on. Definitely shouldn’t have listened to this before I went to bed. Now I’m going to have to watch some Bob Ross to not be afraid of trees and the woods.

Book Description:

Ted and Susan Merchant have been coming to the Pine Lakes Resort for nearly twenty years. In that time, their annual getaway has become a tradition, a peaceful week nestled in the picturesque mountains of northern Pennsylvania. For them, it isn’t just a simple vacation spot, but a magical destination where time slows and they become one with nature’s magnificence.

When a freak summer storm forces Ted to lose control of their car and plummet off the road, they’re relieved just to have survived, but relief quickly turns to dread as they find out all too soon they’re not alone.

Strange lights in the forest, whispered warnings, the insurmountable threat of unseen forces lurking in the shadows; nothing could have prepared them for the horrors that lie ahead.

Escaping the wreck is just the beginning.

Is their love enough to save them, or will they become the latest victims on the road to Pine Lakes?

I’ve loved reading since I was little when my dad would read me Dr. Suess books. Fast-forward a little and I noticed that he was always reading on his lunch breaks at work, and I wondered why.Then, I found a book that took me to another place and time, to another feeling,another sense of “being”.It was the first book that I ever fell in love with, and I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.